This easy risotto recipe is creamy, comforting and flavorful, and tastes delicious and made with or without white wine. Learn how to make risotto at home in 40 minutes that is just as delicious as your favorite Italian restaurant.
I’ve always been slightly intimated by risotto. I think of it as a “designer” Italian side dish, slightly elevated above the rest.
Well, this easy risotto recipe delivers designer results with discount prices, if you know what I mean. It’s simple to make in 40 minutes with only 6 ingredients. And the end product is purely delicious – a rich and creamy, flavorful dish that will give your favorite Italian restaurant a run for it’s money.
Plus, I created this recipe to be made with or without wine, so if you find yourself feeding people who don’t love the taste of wine (like 6 cute little kids), you can easily make this risotto without wine.
Risotto Recipe: Ingredients & Substitutions
- Chicken broth. You can replace up to ½ cup of the chicken broth with dry, white wine for a more authentic flavor. See recipe for instructions on how to do this.
- Salted Butter. unsalted butter works well too.
- Onion. I suggest a sweet white or yellow onion.
- Arborio Rice. There is no substitution for this rice.
- Parmesan Cheese. you can substitute up to half of the parmesan cheese for grated Romano cheese if you’d like.
How to Make Risotto
We’ll walk through this risotto recipe step-by-step. Don’t forget to watch the video!
Begin by brining the chicken broth to a simmer in a 5-quart saucepan. Once simmering, reduce heat and keep simmering while you cook the rice.
Then, in a separate saucepan or dutch oven, melt 3 Tablespoons of butter with onion, and garlic over medium heat and cook until the onion just starts to soften – about 3 minutes.
Once the onion is soft, add the rice and stir to coat.
Then, add ½ cup broth and cook over medium-low heat until mostly absorbed (takes about 3 minutes). Or – add ½ cup dry white whine instead of broth in this step only.
Stir to ensure broth is absorbed, then add additional ½ cup broth and cook without stirring until liquid looks mostly absorbed.
Repeat until the broth is used and rice is cooked (about 25 minutes)
Turn off the heat and add sea salt, pepper, parmesan cheese and the remaining 1 Tablespoon of butter and stir until combined and creamy.
Serve
Serve garnished with fresh parsley (if desired for a pop of color), a dash of salt and pepper and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. I suggest serving this easy risotto recipe alongside your favorite Italian recipes:
Store/Freeze
Store leftover risotto in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Reheat, covered, in the microwave or on the stovetop over low heat.
Risotto Recipe FAQS
Here are my tips for the perfect risotto:
1) Patience – don’t rush the cook time, let the broth/wine slowly absorb into the rice.
2) Don’t rinse the rice! In doing so, you remove the starch that is so important to the creamy outcome of the recipe.
For some, it’s wine. For our family, it’s parmesan cheese and plenty of butter.
Either one works well in this rcipe.
When making this recipe, do not:
Use the wrong rice (only use arborio rice).
Rinse rice with water.
Use oil instead of butter.
Toast the rice too long.
Cook the rice over high heat (low and slow is the way to go).
Cook the rice too fast.
Over-stir the mixture.
Add final ingredients over heat.
No. Never rinse the rice before cooking. It washes away the starch, which imparts the creamy texture in the rice.
The this risotto is extra creamy because of the starch from the rice, butter, and cheese.
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Easy Risotto Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 4 Tablespoons salted butter
- ½ cup onion finely diced (about ½ small onion)
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 cup arborio rice
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- Optional – ½ cup dry white wine (see step 4)
Instructions
- Bring chicken broth to a simmer in a 5-quart saucepan. Reduce heat and keep simmering.
- Melt 3 Tablespoons butter with onion, and garlic in a 5 quart saucepan over medium heat and cook until the onion just starts to soften – about 3 minutes.
- Then add rice and stir to coat.
- Add ½ cup broth and cook over medium-low heat until mostly absorbed (takes about 3 minutes). (If using white wine, replace the chicken broth in this step only with ½ cup dry white wine).
- Stir to ensure broth (or wine) is absorbed, then add additional ½ cup broth and cook without stirring until liquid looks mostly absorbed. Repeat until the broth is used and rice is cooked (about 25 minutes)
- Turn off the heat and add sea salt, pepper, parmesan cheese and remaining 1 TBS butter and stir until combined and creamy.
Video
Notes
- Chicken broth. You can replace up to ½ cup of the chicken broth with dry, white wine for a more authentic flavor. See recipe for instructions on how to do this.
- Salted Butter. unsalted butter works well too.
- Onion. I suggest a sweet white or yellow onion.
- Arborio Rice. There is no substitution for this rice.
- Parmesan Cheese. you can substitute up to half of the parmesan cheese for grated Romano cheese if you’d like.
